Oregon Schmoregon

I am understanding of Oregon's limits, and I understand that they need to come up with a solution. I am opposed to the solution they are coming up with. They are going to purchase insurance from HMO's to fund Medicaid insurance, and making a list of stuff that they will fund (to be re-approved every two years). Not only is this horrendously economically inefficient [gee, how much red tape can we create?] but it is unjust. HMO's already do everything they can to get out of paying for procedures, and this is just another way for them to get paid and do very little. 

I am concerned that the hospital would need to petition the state if funding didn't go through. So, we pay the HMO. They reject cases. We say that's ok but we're going to fund it anyway. So we are paying the HMO to not do anything, and then paying for the procedure anyway. And you bet the HMO will be doing whatever they can to reject as many procedures as possible. It's not like poor people can easily fight back. There is a LOT of private money to be made here.

I also have a problem with the amount of pressure that would be put on doctors. Rodger Wehage had it right when he argued that this would force doctors to violate their Hippocratic oath when making their decisions. Cost analysis would be more important than patient care. The best doctors would be the ones who were forced to lie their way into getting their patients treated. Is that really the kind of system we want to create? And as Senator Bill Kennemer said, "this bill sets a precedent for inferior care for the poor." I'm actually finding myself agreeing with Republicans on healthcare. Whoa.

Kitzhaber makes a poor analogy when he tries to compare the program to the food stamps program. Healthcare is a right, fancy food isn't. People need to be taken care of, they don't need to eat at a fancy french restaurant. The analogy isn't even remotely similar to the situation. People won't die if they can't go out to a fancy supper club. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about health care. People will die if they aren't allowed health care. I don't think Kitzhaber really fully understands this, and if he does, he places as much value on their lives as he does eating out at a fancy restaurant. 

I have about 8 million other complaints with this system, but I'll save it for class or my next post, since this one is already getting really long.